The Thanksgiving Visit 🦃🚗✨
(A true story from Tucker, Professional Family Escort and Part-Time Backseat Acrobat)
I knew something was going on.
Mom and Dad kept marching out to the car with bags and boxes, and I trotted behind them every time, supervising. That’s my job. I’m basically head of security around here.
Then Mom said the magic words:
“Tucker, you’re coming with us.”
YES.
THE BEST.
Now, before every car trip, I perform my sacred ritual:
I check my reflection in the car door.
Gotta make sure the ears are fluffy and the snoot looks symmetrical. Can’t show up to see my grandkids looking like a rumpled biscuit.
Then comes the hard part.
The backseat.
Mom uses that hammock thing that drapes across the seat, which is VERY deceiving. Looks like solid ground. Feels like a slippery trap. I try to hop in and—nope. No traction. My paws do a little ice-skating routine.
So Mom always has to boost my back end in.
Dignity? Never heard of her.
Once I’m inside, I try standing up, because I’m convinced this is the best way to start a journey.
It is not.
I wobble.
I slide.
I readjust.
Mom says, “Just sit, Tucker.”
Eventually, I give in.
For the first few miles, I sit tall and gaze out the window like an elegant travel influencer.
Then my legs get tired.
Then I flop sideways and sleep.
I sleep ALL the way until we exit the interstate.
Then my internal GPS goes: We’re close!
I pop up, plant my front paws on the console, and stare through the windshield like a co-pilot who’s barely qualified.
We’ve been to my grandkids’ house twice now.
They have:
🐱 Evie the Cat, who is…fine. Mysterious. Judgey.
🐩 Ollie the Poodle, my friend, my equal, my sidekick.
🧒👧 THE GRANDKIDS, the greatest beings in the universe.
I love them SO MUCH. My whole tail turns into a celebration.
And they have a pool.
Which is terrifying.
At night, the lights change colors—blue, red, green—and each time they shift, I have QUESTIONS.
Why is the water glowing?
Is it alive?
Is it magic?
Should I bark at it?
(Yes. The answer is always yes.)
After a big day of zooming, sniffing, kid-hugging, and pool-monitoring, we load up again.
And on the drive home?
I sleep the whole way.
Being the holiday entertainment is exhausting, but someone’s gotta do it.
🐾 Nose boops and tail wags,
Tucker 💛